MGSP Announces First Scholarship Winners

January 13, 2021

The Michigan Government Semester Program is pleased to announce the winners of the first MGSP Scholarships.

Kennedy Hall and Doug Dallich Jr. both received scholarships to cover their expenses during their internships this spring. Dallich, a Political Science Pre-Law major, will be interning for state Sen. Kim LaSata while Hall, also studying Political Science Pre-Law, is interning with state Rep. Kyra Harris Bolden.

Runner up awards were presented to Claudia Schaafsma and Sean Perry. Perry is interning with state Rep. Jewell Jones. A placement is pending for Schaafsma.

The Scholarships, sparked by longtime intern coordinator Professor Emeritus Chuck Matzke, include a $2,700 stipend to compensate for the lack of earnings and remove a hurdle to participation in unpaid public service internships. A goal of the scholarship is to spur more students to pursue careers in public service and help offset the costs of completing an internship. 

Awards will be distributed to the students in two installments, half at the beginning of the semester and the other half at the end of the semester. The Department hopes to award many more scholarships in future semesters. Requirements for the scholarship include admission into the Michigan Government Semester Program and an identifed unpaid internship placement.

MGSP provides students the opportunity to intern at the highest levels of state politics, study Michigan government, and develop professional skills readying them for a career in public service. MGSP is unique in that we bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical aspects of state politics.

This year, 19 students were accepted into the MGSP program, reports coordinator Dr. Marty Jordan. He is pleased to announce that the current cohort fufills one of the MGSP's goals of increasing the representation of under-represented groups in the public sector. 

"For example, typically in Michigan's state legislature, only 1/5 of the legislators are women and only slightly more than 15% are persons of color. Meanwhile, in this year's MGSP cohort, four out of ten students are women and more than 1/4 are students of color. Beyond that, our students represent diverse political perspectives and come from all over Michigan (from Kalamazoo to Detroit to Oscoda) and the country," said Dr. Jordan. 

For more information about the program, please go to https://polisci.msu.edu/undergraduate/internships/michigan-gov-semester.html

To donate to the program and future scholarships, please go to https://givingto.msu.edu/gift/?sid=11548